Ceci n’est pas une pub! C’est un “culture jam”

This morning, ARTUNG ! offers the people of Montreal more than 300 artworks . Installed in the advertising panels belonging to Pattison, CBS Outdoor and Astral Media, these displays denounce the increase in tuition fees. [click on any red square to see the displays)

Map of Artung!’s reclamation of public space in support of access to education.

“The public space should encourage citizen expression and represent different points of view. Unfortunately, the urban landscape is overrun with advertisements. The commercialization of our living space leaves room for only one message: sell and consume”, according to the co-spokesperson of ARTUNG!, Peggy Faye.

An Artung! intervention with artwork by the Beehive Design Collective.

Last May, 200 advertisements were replaced by artworks to reclaim the public space while at the same time denouncing the lawsuit filed by Pattison, CBS Outdoor and Astral Media against the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. On September 7, 2010, Mayor Ferrandez’s administration adopted a by law calling for the removal of the 45 panels installed on its territory. Today, although the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough has sent out 86 statements of offense, none of the huge advertising panels has been removed – these companies are therefore acting illegally.

This time, the ARTUNG initiative is coming out in support of the 220 900 students who are presently on strike. Tomorrow the 22 of March, thousands of citizens will fill the public space during a huge national demonstration to oppose the decision of the liberal government to increase tuition fees. This measure impairs the accessibility of education and public services.

“Teaching institutions, like the streets, should be places of dialogue rather than spaces subjected to the economics of the market,” states Pascale Brunet, co-spokesperson of ARTUNG!

Made up of a constellation of citizens of all stripes, ARTUNG! Invites the population to participate in a reflection on the future of our public spaces. Our streets should be a canvas for all communities and not for private companies. Our schools should be places for meeting and debating ideas, and not degree factories.